Rookie Jones tributes late father with jersey number

“I have that last picture we took two days before he died when I was at school,” Ben said. “That’s still hanging in my room.”

The keepsakes help the Texans’ rookie center remember. The No. 60 on his jersey helps him honor.

“I’ve worn 60 ever since he passed – since I was 10,” said the 23-year-old Jones, whose father died in a helicopter crash doing his job as a forester. “I wore it all the way through high school and middle school.”

Houston didn’t have a No. 60 last season or by the time Houston picked Jones in the fourth round.

He did his research and figured he’d try to get No. 60 if he could. If not, he’d wait, as was the case in college.

Clint Boling wore No. 60 at Georgia when Jones arrived in 2008. Boling left for the NFL in 2011, opening the door for Jones.

“I knew I was going to stay there for four years and that was another big reason for me coming back my senior year,” said Jones, who wore No. 61 for his first three years. “I said, ‘Hey, I want to wear No. 60 at Georgia where my dad went to school and it’s his favorite team.’

“It didn’t hit home to a lot of the players, but it definitely stuck with me right off the bat. I was back at home.”

Jones started 49 career games at Georgia and was named to the program’s Team of the Decade. He was known for his leadership well before being named Georgia’s overall captain his senior year.

“A strength of Ben is his personality,” Texans offensive line coach John Benton said. “Even as a rookie, he’s more vocal than most rookies at this point. You can tell that he does it the right way and the group is accepting him.

“While he may not be the outfront leader he was in college, you can see he’s on his way if he handles his business the right way.”

Jones is still a rookie though, 1 of 5 first-year offensive linemen with the Texans.

“You learn every single day,” Texans center Chris Myers said. “Certain things you can’t do, certain things you can do and certain things you have to do as a rookie. He’s learning day by day though.”

Jones continues to do so, wearing the same No. 60 Steve Jones did in high school.

“I’m out here doing what I love and I knew he showed passion in everything he did,” Ben Jones said. “He loved being a forester so he came into work everyday and tried to help everybody out no matter if it was a 16-year-old boy or an 80-year-old man. He treated everybody the same and that’s how I take football. Nobody’s treated differently and I’m going to come out here to work every day.”